Drainage ditches???

Do you guys install any rip rap(or filter stone?) in drainage ditches? At my local quarry they call it RR3(Aggregate Ditch) and at my local contrete supplier they call it filter stone. I believe it is quarried to be between 3" and 6" size. I have looked for good calculators online and they all seem to vary a lot. My project size is 225' by 18' and I figure 6" deep. The many calculator online figure between 150 tons to 50 tons??? I am guessing around 100-110 tons... What are some of your opinions?

This will be my first job of this type. Can I just use a skid steer to spread rock or does it take some hand labor as well? Like stacking the bottom course(bottom of ditch) so other rock will stack up the slope.

Rip-rap and filter stone are two different things, at least around here. Rip-rap is 12"+ broken concrete. Filter stone is usually 6"+ broken concrete. You would use Rip-rap to stabilize banks and discharge flumes. Filter stone would go in the channel base to trap sediment and act as a baffle for runoff. As for spreading, what D Felix said.

I know it would be nice to have a piece of heavy equipment with a 10-15 ton capacity, but don't see why you guys are making a big deal of it??? The site isn't suited for a piece of equipment like that... Mature trees, slope, irrigation system, not that big of a project. I didn't give these details before but you would most likely run into one of them on projects like this.

I haven't used heavy equipment before and don't even know where to rent any
Surely an 863 Bobcat can handle this job with ease...

Actually what D Felix said was " 10-15 ton range ", which refers to the wight of the Excavator ( heavier machines have higher capacity ). This would put you into a 312C L , with a 1.5 yd clam bucket you could make short work of the job.
Your Bobcat's flat bucket isn't designed to move 6" stone and will probably take considerably longer to move and lay the stone than you are calculating. I always avoid taking equipment into drainage ditches, you'll know what I'm talking about when it happens.

Hertz rents a 15 ton machine for around 500/day, I believe the week price isn't much more.
The damage path created by this machine is nothing compared to what multiple trips in your 5 ton Bobcat will do.

I believe I was quoted ~$1250 for a weeks rental on a Link Belt 130 LX. I don't know where you are at in IL, but the rental company that quoted me the price is in Indianapolis. That price did not include delivery. I'm sure there's a large equipment supplier around you, check around. NationsRent has large machines, though most of the time they aren't sitting on the lot.

If you still want to do it with the skid, I'd at least want metal tracks over the tires, if not a dedicated tracked machine like a T300.

Just finished a job similar to the one I had originally posted about. The 863 with metal tracks handled it with ease. Anything bigger would not have worked. I was using a tooth bucket... smooth would have been much more difficult...

one thing to remember is that you dont want to "v" the ditch. that will cause the water to move extremly fast and cause erosion. what you want is a flat bottom and if at all possible. if the flow isnt that bad to plant grass in the bottom. but rocks will do the same if you have a high flow area, grass would be ideal for a ditch that is in everyday view etc etc.

rip rap is big here in arizona, I figure 50sqft to the ton using 6-12" rock. i usually end up with lots of little crap that I try to shove in holes or just take away. Here, rock is laid by hand flat almost like a wall. If it is dumped in, that is considered a bad job. We use a skid to get the rock to the guys and they place every piece. It is a lot of work and I try to get $2sqft. Pay around $25 ton delivered.

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